The resurrection of the Brussels’ beer scene

Belgium is widely regarded as the beer capital of the world. It’s therefore hard to imagine that until recently, not that much beer is actually brewed in Belgium’s capital Brussels.

That’s now changing. Althought it’s still quite low, the production of beer in Brussels has increased 5-fold since the year 2010.

Brussels’ best known brewery is probably Cantillon in Anderlecht. They brew Lambic, a beer that’s unique to Brussels and the surrounding areas. Their production levels were around 1800 hectoliter and half of that was destined for export to the US.

The total production of Brussels’ beers now lies around 10.300 hectoliters, which amounts to around 4.12 million 25cl bottles.

This increase in production is mainly thanks to the Brasserie de la Senne which was founded in Molenbeek around 4 years ago.

Brasserie de la Senne is known for making beers such as Zinnebir, Taras Boulba and Jambe-de-Bois. Around 40% of their output was destined for export and they have managed to double their production every year. They are also investing in better infrastructure to make sure increased output doesn’t result in decreased quality. Clearly this is big player in the Brussels beer brewing scene.

Other beer brewers from Brussels include “En Stoemelings”, which is probably the most recent addition. They currently just brew one beer called “Curieuse Neus” (A Bruxellois term for “someone who’s curious”, literally “curious nose”).

Finally there’s also Brussels Beer Project which is a brewery driven by crowdfunding and they are located in the heart of Brussels. They produce beers such as Delta and Grosse Bertha.